Not from Heaven, But for You
by saradamliad
Summary: She came with the rain, and with her a 'gift' for him. Kanda had never been a people person, how was he supposed to handle a kid? Where did it even come from? Did he even want to know?
1. Chapter 1

Rain had been falling for the past 10 days and showed that it would not stop anytime soon. The strong winds didn't fall far behind, they made the raindrops in to small, thin knives attacking from the gray clouds. Leather was barely enough to cover the skin, but heavy once it had to be worn in layers. It had been obvious that no one should go outside unless completely necessary, which was one of the reasons that carriages had not been seen on the streets as people scurried by trying their hardest not to get drenched. If one were to arrive via train, then they would have to risk it and walk towards their destination. However, there was always the choice of staying at the train station and seek refuge from the rain.

In this particular night, a hooded figure had arrived at its destination, braving the Heaven's attack and relishing in the feeling of safety that the building held within. Inside awaited a warm seat in front of the fire, a table set and prepared with freshly cooked food and warm drinks to warm from the inside. But what truly awaited in this building was acceptance, safety and help. Those were the most important that this individual truly craved as its feet brought it closer and closer to the guardian of this haven, ready to collapse from exhaustion.

Though, it seemed that not everything would be as simple as that.

Within the walls of the Black Order, the alarm blasted as the guardian alerted of danger at the Order's gates. The few Exorcists that were there jumped, ready to fight this oncoming danger as Finders ran to the science department to find anything that might prove deadly, which in all truth, everything in there was deadly to some extent. As soon as everyone was prepared, they joined the Exorcists towards the entranced as it was opened to let out an attack.

The hooded individual who was outside fighting the rain was soon joined by another figure who fired out a shot as warning and in a thundering voice shouted:

"STOP YOUR GODDAMN ATTACK! IT'S ME! NOW BACK OFF!"

The hood revealed a red-headed man, face half covered by a white mask as he made his way towards the people targeting him and the other figure. Many of the Finders ran back inside to seek a place to hide from the man once they recognized him, knowing full well that nothing good would come even if they tried to apologize to the man.

"Master! What are you doing here?" Allen Walker was the first to react and approach his master.

The man, instead of greeting his student as should be done, smacked him across the head and walked through the entrance and straight towards the kitchen with the other hooded figure at his heels. It seemed that this caused the guardian to start with the alarms once again as the stranger walked into the safe haven, that is, until Komui appeared flailing arms smacking whoever happened to be in his way. His sister had already called Jerry, asking if some food had been saved for the night so that it could be served at once. Komui had come back exactly as the General had stood beside the table to relieve himself of the heavy leather and eat peacefully, perhaps even have some of the wine on reserve for his rare visits.

"It's alright now. If you had told me you were going to get here today, I could've told the guardian the situation! Goodness, Cross!"

"Tch, whatever. You should always be prepared to receive me, since that is a great honor bestowed upon all of you," he huffed. "Come, sit down, you're safe now," he now motioned for his companion as he threw his coat to Allen.

Allen, having noticed that his Master's body looked extremely odd, didn't complain once the wet clothing article hit him in the face as he was too interested in knowing if all those years of endless drinking had finally taken their toll on his Master's 'perfect' body, as the latter said about himself. But to his surprise, instead of an enormous beer gut, two little children were curled at his sides, seeking warmth and stability so that they would not fall upon the floor.

"I knew it!" Allen screamed, delighted.

"Cross, I didn't know... When did this...?" Komui started, not sure how to continue.

"I knew you had to have some kids out in the world! He even looks like you!" Allen continued with his delight. "Where is their mother? Or maybe they have different mothers? Master! Are you taking responsibility?! Did the Earl enslave humankind and the world as we know it has ended?!"

"Will you shut up, stupid apprentice? You're scaring the children. And you, you need to take that off or you are going to get sick," Cross talked to his companion, but with a gentler voice that did not go unnoticed by the small group of people in the kitchen.

"Cross, I prepared the things you asked and your suite has been set up as you had asked. But aren't they a little too big for the things?" Komui asked.

But before anyone else could say anything, Lenalee came out of the kitchen helping Jerry with the food that was made for everyone as a later dinner. While they set the table, the other person finally made a move and walked towards General Cross, taking the small children from him and gently laying them on the benches so that they could sit closest to the fire that had been brought for them. Shaking them lightly, the small boy and girl stirred, surprisingly not having been awoken from the loud alarms on their way into the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

Bright green eyes stared at everyone as the boy took in the situation and saw the man that had carried him walking around the long table so that he could sit in front of them. Looking at the other people, he still felt the need to hold the girl close to him, knowing it was his job as the eldest to protect her. Behind him, he could feel the one person he would always feel safe with, so he swayed back to feel his back against a pair of legs.

"Are we safe now, Okaa-san?" the boy asked, taking another look around.

"Oh, Yuu! You have a little friend now!" came the coo from the other red-head in the room, who got a scowl in return.

"Hurry and get yourselves dry. You don't want to get them sick, right?" the General urged once again.

"Kaa-san," the little girl whimpered once she was completely awake.

The General had gone up and started to remove the coat from his companion when finally everyone could see the person who had Cross carrying and protecting the two children from the rain. Allen's grin only grew wider when he saw that the person who had made his Master a softy was a beautiful woman. No wonder he had been so nice to her, telling her that she was safe now. And also taking care of her children, for no doubt, they were his as well. The similarities were too obvious. Allen felt like a proud older brother, not that he really knew what being a big brother felt like, just knowing well that he would never be like Komui and poor Lenalee.

"Wow, I finally get to meet you! Cross has said nothing about you!" Komui said.

"Brother! That's so rude!" his sister nudged him with her elbow.

"Not as rude as you," he muttered.

"Master! Your woman is a beautiful gem! You had her well-hidden, didn't you?" Allen came towards Cross and the woman who still had another layer of coats on to keep in the warmth. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he took her hand and kissed it lightly, like a true gentleman. "I am Allen Walker, Master Cross' apprentice, at your service."

"Sweetie," a melodious voice spoke to him. "It seems you do not remember me? Perhaps you were still too young at that time." The woman continued to take her coats as she tried her best to keep an eye on her children. "It is an honor to be here with you all, I am Moriko De Lune, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please forgive the rude entrance that we made."

"It's so nice to meet you, Miss De Lune. I'm Lenalee Lee and this," she pointed towards the man in white, "is my brother, Komui Lee, Section Chief of the Science Department."

"Just 'Moriko', please."

"Alright, Moriko! I'm Lavi, you'll never meet anyone as smart as me. And this is my bestest of friends, Kanda Yuu. But he prefers Kanda," the hyper boy said as he recieved a hard elbow to the ribs and a hiss.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I hope that we won't be a bother to any of you. Can you hold them for a bit?" the woman asked Cross.

In a manner that was not usual of the General, Cross willingly accepted two small bundles as he sat next to the little blue-eyed girl who immediately approached him hoping to get a glimpse of what he carried in his arms. As Lenalee was about to offer her help, a cry cut through the room and the woman's movements quickened.

From her back she took off a pair of slings in which two more children were craddled. It seemed that one of them had awakened and had been frightened at the unfamiliar place. However, before she could do anything, the two small bundles in Cross's arm started to wriggle about and suddenly two more little children popped out their heads and looked around for their mother. Once they saw that she was near, they turned to see the man who carried them. As he softly murmured to them, the two snuggled deeper into his embrace, where they waited for their mother's voice.

"Master! Just how many kids do you have?! And when did I meet you, Miss Moriko?" Allen wanted to know how he did not remember this woman, especially if she had had so much contact with his Master to have given him six children.

"How adorable! I never knew there were cuter children than Allen, but here you come and prove me wrong." Jerry, who had heard the cry and Allen's voice, hurried out of the kitchen to see what was wrong. Upon his arrival, he couldn't help but coo at the little people. "Hello, you cute little ones, aren't you hungry? If you don't like something or you want something different tell me and I'll make it for you, ok? Don't be shy~."

"I'm so sorry to disturb you, but could I borrow your kitchen for a bit? I need to make something," Moriko's voice asked the chef.

"Of course, dear, of course. Come with me, do you want a hand with that little one on your hip?"

The little boy that was currently rubbing at his eyes, gave Jerry a look who had his arms outstretched and then looked back at his mother, who nodded slightly. With his mother's permission, he reached out for the chef who only melted more because of the child in his arms. As the boy snuggled into the embrace, both adults walked away from the table and into the kitchen.

"So... Big family you have there, General Cross," Lavi commented as silence engulfed the table, save for Komui and Kanda, who were drinking coffee and eating soba, respectively.

"Hello, children," Allen greeted the children. "I'm Allen, I'm your... big brother. I can call myself their brother, right? I'm your apprentice after all," he turned to his Master.

"Then us too! Right, Lena? Aren't they all so cute?" Lavi joined Allen.

"Empa? He is Allen?" one of the boys in Cross' arms asked the man. Although, he didn't want to answer, it was obvious that the children already knew.

When the General nodded, the four children's eyes were filled with amazement, much to Cross' dislike.

"Aren! Ahno Aren!" the other boy shouted in glee as he reached for the apprentice.

"Ahno? What's that?" Allen asked, taking the little boy nevertheless.

The oldest boy gave him an once-over as he looked back to General Cross. "He is really Uncle Allen, Empa?"

"Yeah, he's not much, but he is."

"Congratulations, Moyashi. You're old," Kanda's biting voice came from in front of the children who were all eating.

"Shut it, BaKanda."

"Kaa-san said that that is a bad word, it's a no-no, Uncle Allen," the girl said.

Komui had made his way next to Cross, to have a look himself at the family. He had always thought that Cross would never willingly come to the Order, not with the way that this man lived. But he supposed that the circumstances were quite different and here he was. With his family and holding children like he was born for it. Which was a tremendous surprise, what with him almost raising Allen when he was younger. It was a different pace, and the children's laughter was something he had not heard since his own little sister was small. He thought maybe they had been sent to take away some of his stress. Or maybe give him some more? He was still not sure of the situation, but had been promised answers the next morning. Tonight would be about eating and resting.

"They look alot like you, Cross. When did you have them and where did you keep them?"

"What are you talking about? They're not mine."


	3. Chapter 3

The General had gone back to his first place and had started to eat as he carried the boy on his knee so that he could reach the food on the table. The two older ones were eating in front of him, licking their fingers, savoring the last remains of the food that the nice man had made. The younger of the four had been put on the table as he ate from Allen's plates. Lenalee watching from the other side in case the boy flipped backwards and Lavi dragging Kanda to sit closer to them so that he could also enjoy the view of a cute, messy baby.

"What do you mean they're not yours? Two of them are red-heads like you and that little one has your maroon eyes. And they're not yours?"

"Ah, my children have his blood, but he is not their father."

Moriko had come back from the kitchen, taking a swig of the golden liquid in her bottle. She went and sat besides her daughter as the other boys came and surrounded her. The boy on her hip slowly slid down and attempted to sit on his own, but was set up on the table along with his slightly older brother and joined him in eating from Allen's plates.

"It seems you still don't remember me, Allen. During the first year that you lived with General Cross, I would come there often, I just looked completely different from now. I suppose I have changed a lot since then. I'm your would-be older sister, General Cross also raised me when I was a baby," the woman explained. "Right, Father?"

"You have a really bad memory if you don't remember her, Allen. You would only talk to her when you were in a bad mood, which was often enough," he answered.

"Well, at least I got one thing right, you do have at least one kid," Allen said.

"I suspect you won't tell me anything until tomorrow, isn't that right, Cross?" Komui said as he lazily picked up a piece of bread and attempted to feed it to the child on the General's lap.

"Okaa-san! He has a sword, too!" the eldest boy shouted once he had a chance to see the swordsman that had stood up to grab a plate of food, showing his sword slightly at the movement.

"And you have sharp eyes," said Lavi. "What are your names, kids?"

Before he answered, he gave him a once-over also. Not missing the way the boy's eye shined, expectant for an answer. He thought that maybe this boy-man was harmless.

"Go ahead, introduce yourselves, children," their mother said.

"Hello, my name is Hideaki," the boy with flaming hair and emerald eyes said.

"I am Ai, it's nice to meet you," the blue-eyed, brunette girl followed. "Those are my brothers Takashi," she pointed towards the oldest of the boys, the one with maroon eyes, on the table, "and Daisuke," she switched to the smaller one, the other red-head.

"The one with Empa is Shizuka," continued Hideaki, pulling the attention to a boy who looked exactly like their mother, "and the baby is Yume," the boy concluded as he smiled at his mother.

"Wait, you still have another one? Can I see the baby?" Lenalee asked enthusiastically, hoping not to get refused the request.

Moriko smiled and waved the young woman over, adjusting the only dry coat that she had around her shoulders. When Lenalee was close enough, she was able to see the sleeping baby, thin black hair framing an angel's face, swaddled in a light blue blanket.

"He is so cute, Moriko! How old is he? He must not be a year yet, right?" she asked as the baby's eyes fluttered opened. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her as she met eyes with the youngest of the children. "Oh my."

"It's a girl, not a boy," came Kanda's stern voice.

"And how would you know that?" Allen cut in. "Thinking of changing your name into that one?"

"Very funny. Of course you wouldn't know, Moyashi."

"Guys, you need to see her," Lenalee interrupted before either Allen or Kanda could continue their argument. "You are not going to believe this."

"She must be as beautiful as her mother, right? Don't tell me you're jealous, Lena!" Lavi laughed as he approached the women.

As he also laid eyes upon her, his eyes grew wider and his jaw dropped. He could honestly not believe this baby. He rubbed his eyes and pinched his cheeks, thinking that maybe he was starting to fall asleep. Once he came to the conclusion that he was indeed seeing what was in front of him, he turned to look at Kanda, then back at the baby, then once more at Kanda. Letting a low whistle, Allen was finally curious to approach the woman as well. However, his reaction was what surprised everyone.

"Why does this innocent baby look like you?! Why has she been cursed to look like you?!" he screamed accusingly at Kanda.

Kanda scoffed. "As if. Your eyes must be going bad."

Allen, not just a little hurt about what the swordsman told him, but also wanting to prove him wrong, dragged the man around the table and brought him to stand in front of his, as she had said, sister. Before he could step away, the two older children hung on to him so that he wouldn't run away. He may be a cruel and cold man, but he knew not to hurt children, only the Moyashi, so he just gritted his teeth and looked at the baby that had made his comrades into a group of idiots. As if somebody could look like him, unless they had also been manufactured by the Order to fight, like they had with him.

"Tch, she looks nothing like me," he said as he went back to his seat before anyone could intercept him. He still wanted to drink his tea before going to bed. And now that he had seen this little Yume, he was sure he wanted to relax and believe that this truly was a dream and that the baby actually looked nothing like him, which he hated to admit, but she looked almost identical to him. And the same went for the other little girl, that although her eyes were pure sapphire, there was no doubt she resembled him as well. He did not want to think of how that could've happened, since the only way that was possible was for them to be a type of Second Exorcists, perhaps Fourth Exorcist, or that they were at the least some sort of experiment. Kanda highly doubted that the girls had been naturally born.

As his last thought settled in his mind, the baby started to cry and squirm in Lenalee's arms. The woman's eyes showed anxiety and gave her back to her mother who tried as she might, she could not get the little girl to stop hitting the people around her, her little arms extending towards the table. As instinct came over the mother, she stood and made her way to Kanda and carefully placed the baby in his arms. She smiled at him and sat next to him as she saw that Yume's cries calmed and held onto the man's uniform as if he might disappear in the next second.

"What are you doing?! Yuu is not a people person!"

Lavi came running to Yume's aid, but backed off when Kanda growled at him, making a safe distance between Lavi and Yume. At the growling, little Yume stopped her movements altogether and stared at the man holding her. Though, the man had prepared himself for the baby to start crying and give her back to her mother where she belonged. However, a tiny hand reached up to his chin and rubbed it lightly, giggling to herself as she waited for the man to do something. Sensing that Lavi was attempting to come closer again, Kanda scooted backwards, bumping into Moriko and growled once more at his situation. Again, the growl made Yume stop and seconds later her giggles erupted.

"Yume wiky Tou-san rawr wike wion!" Takashi giggled as he stuffed a piece of chicken into his Ahno Aren's mouth.

"Uncle Allen, Taka is eating your food," Shizuka had finally spoken and accepted a hot chocolate that Komui had prepared for the oldest children.

As Cross helped Shizuka drink from the mug given to him, Lavi made his way back to his seat and observed the picture in front of him. Kanda was holding a baby and the baby was not crying. He made the baby stop crying! How was that possible, maybe he was a baby whisperer? No, he would have to be made of rainbows and drink unicorn milk for him to be so pure and able to comfort a baby. Lavi went back to his thoughts as he tried to see anything else. The older boy looked like him, actually, but something in his eyes made him uncomfortable. A child made Bookman Jr. uncomfortable, how insane was that? And then the girl, Ai, looked exactly how Kanda would look like if he was legitly a girl, except for her eyes. It was always the eyes with these children. Next came Shizuka, shy little boy couldn't be older than five. This one looked exactly like his mother, dark eyes and darker eyelashes. When he examined the boy, he could see that there were hints of blue in his eyes and wondered if that was how Moriko's eyes looked up close. After him was the boy with General Cross' maroon eyes, Takashi. This boy, Lavi could feel Allen-vibes from him. A cheerful little one, but he bet that he would throw earth-shattering tantrums if that ever came to happen. After him was another red-head like General Cross, Hideaki, and himself. Daisuke, he looked fairly harmless, he wondered if he was going to follow in his brother's footsteps and obtain Allen-vibes as well. He seemed rather bright, his dark eyes following everything that occurred around him, as if recording his sister's antics. Now, what truly surprised him was how little, teeny, tiny Yume was a baby replica of Yuu. Same dark hair, same slightly slanted eyes, and same blue-gray eyes. Yeah, she might be a baby but, there is no way that you couldn't see that she was him! This puzzled him greatly and had already decided to ask Gramps about that and if he knew anything about this. Maybe he could seat-in during the meeting that Komui, General Cross, and Moriko were going to have in the morning.

"So I have a sister," Allen started, feeding the little boy in front of him. His nephew, he kept reminding himself.

"I can't believe you don't remember her. How stupid can you be?" his Master scowled at him.

General Cross had succeeded in putting to sleep Shizuka and had given him back to his mother as she checked that the swordsman had a proper support on her baby's head. Hideaki had left to care for Takashi, knowing well that the boy would stuff himself into a food-induced coma if left alone, this was of course, after he had deemed 'Uncle' Lavi to be trustworthy enough once more to care for his sister. The little girl was mumbling about something for the next day, so the older brother saw no harm in that. Lenalee had Daisuke sitting on her lap and cleaning his face and hands from any left over food, which left Allen contemplating whether it was a good idea to share his food with them, since they had finished more than one fourth of everything, and Allen didn't like to share his food with anyone.

"Okaa-san, I think that Takashi is ready to go to sleep soon. He needs his milk and Daisuke too," Hideaki informed his mother.

"I'll feed Yume and you can show Aunty Lena how to feed Takashi, right? And Allen, could you take Shizuka for a bit?"

As Allen took the sleeping boy from Moriko's arm, little Daisuke crawled on top of the table towards his mother. Reaching into a bag beside her, she took out a baby bottle and placed it in front of Kanda, at the same time reaching for the baby. Putting the blanket around her shoulder, she pulled down one side of her kimono so that Yume could attach herself to her mother's chest. Cradling her with one hand, she took Daisuke as he reached her and gently passed him to the swordsman who could do nothing but glare at her and stiffen his posture.

"What do you expect me to do?" he spat.

"Follow Lenalee's lead and feed Daisuke, hold his head correctly and keep the bottle up so that there are no bubbles. It's simple, right?"

This was another first for the swordsman. First carrying a baby, now feeding another baby. What was this world coming to? He was an exorcist, dammit! Not a babysitter! As much as he wanted to throw this creature to his mother, it seemed that this tiny red-head was already comfortable and awaiting his bottle of milk. He guessed that this baby and he had something in common: they were waiting to go to sleep. Kanda reasoned that the sooner he got this child to drink his milk, the sooner he would be relieved of him. With that thought in mind, he did as the mother said and started feeding her baby.

Lenalee, on the other hand was thinking that maybe she could have more time with the children, seeing how she had never really been around kids before, besides Timothy, but he had been much older than them when she had first met him. It truly was a delight that she had not known as she had always been at HeadQuarters. She was an aunt! And it wasn't by Komui! Poor children, if he ever were to have any. Although, she must admit that when Yume started crying, she had been too scared. Did Yume not like her? Was she no good with children? The other children had been fine with her, maybe it was just babies. But she had been pleasantly surprised when Kanda had been able to calm the baby and now he was feeding Daisuke? Lenalee always knew that there was more to Kanda than what met the eye. She knew that there was a gentleness in him and these babies had proved it. She was really happy to be holding Takashi right now.

"Okaa-san, we are ready to go to sleep. Takashi finished his milk," Ai said, rubbing the oncoming sleep from her eyes as she walked towards General Cross and grabbed a handful of coat.

Seeing this, Cross went and took Shizuka from Allen and waited for Lenalee to put Takashi on his other arm as he started leading Ai out of the kitchen.

"You will be staying in my suite for the next week or so until your room has been prepared. Are all of you ready for bed?" he asked the children.

"Yes, Empa," came the little voices from the children that were still holding on to consciousness.

"I thank you once more for your welcome, I would like to get to know all of you. Goodnight," Moriko bid goodnight.

She reached down for Daisuke in Kanda's arms. The loose hair that rested on her shoulder slid close to Kanda's face, making him notice that the distance between their faces barely existed. Carrying Yume in one arm, she secured her other arm around the boy and cradled him to her chest as she whispered her thanks to Kanda. Though it was an accident, Kanda felt that the light touch of her lips against his exposed neck had been on purpose, knowing that this woman was playing with him.

"Say 'goodnight,' Hideaki," the mother reminded the oldest boy as he also followed the group out of the kitchen.

"Yes." He turned and bowed, "Thank you for dinner and for giving us a safe home. Goodnight everyone, Otou-san," he said as bowed once more towards Kanda.

At the last statement, nobody knew whether Kanda had turned red from embarrassment or from anger.

They had made it to the General's suite, only the two oldest children still awake as they crawled into bed with their mother. Hideaki snuggled up to his sister and took the outer side so that Ai could be in between their mother and him. He had said his good-nights to his grandfather and kissed his younger siblings before they had been put into their cribs. Shizuka would be sleeping on top of their mother, as he could not be separated from her during the night. He wasn't sure if Otou-san was mad when he had called him as such, but he hoped he understood because he was also a swordsman. Besides thinking that they would be safe, Hideaki thought that they had gained an actual home and that their family had grown. Hideaki went to sleep dreaming of the many things he wanted to do the next day. Maybe he could talk to Otou-san about the sword. He liked that idea.

"Do you think we did the right thing, Father?"

"What else was there to do? The Order is the safest for you and the kids. This is the only place where you could've come," the General answered.

"I suppose you are right. We need to tell Kumoi about all that happened, don't we?"

"Yes, it's for the best. He will do everything that is necessary for you all, but he needs to know everything. I need to know everything, too."

"I understand. But you know that I can't help but be scared for my children. How will they be treated? It was their orders after all, I have a right to be scared."

"There is nothing to worry about, the people here are different. This branch works differently from the others. They are truly safe here, I promise."

"We shall see."


	4. Chapter 4

What was that? What was this feeling? He did not understand how his blood could feel as if it was boiling in his veins. It wasn't the same feeling as when he is healing or when he had lost his temper and ran rampart. It was something different and he wanted to know why. No, he needed to know why. This night had been too much for him. It irritated him more than when Moyashi picked a fight with him or when the Bookman Jr. called him by his first name. What was he supposed to do now?

His night had started normal enough, or as normal as it could ever be. Waiting for his food, fighting with Moyashi, avoiding Lavi as much as possible, these he was used to. But then the alarm went off and he was prepared to fight an akuma, why else would the alarm go off? To his distaste, it had only been General Cross and his daughter looking for refuge, which the Order did not do. If refuge was what they needed then they could've gone to an actual church and asked to stay there. What did they think this place was? A hotel?

Not only had this caused a big commotion and interruption as the other times the guardian had claimed akuma attacking falsely, but now he also had to share the dining hall with the new intruders at the Order. Of course, as everything associated with General Cross had come to be, his daughter had irritated him to no end. Even though she had done nothing to him personally so far, just introducing herself and talking to her "brother" as well as taking care of her brats, she just got on his nerves.

Perhaps it was that she and her children had a Japanese name or that she seemed so at 'home' when she had barely spent an hour in this place. Perhaps it was the fact that although having a Japanese name, she looked nothing like a Japanese person. Her dark hair was held up by a pair of chopsticks, her dark eyes were round and surprisingly reminded him of a moonless night sky. He could see specks of blue in her eyes and that disturbed him without an actual reason. Her skin was fair, but not overly so as his, it looked as if she had not seen the sun in years instead of being naturally pale. The outline of her body also showed that she did not share the same slim figure as the other Asian woman in the room. She looked rounder, but he supposed that having had six children would change a woman's body.

However, he had noticed that she had been wearing a black kimono with a blue obi, if she wasn't Japanese, why wear it? Why couldn't she wear something more appropriate for London? Maybe what pissed him off about her was that even though she wasn't Japanese, her mannerisms and the way she had brought up her children stuck true to the way Japanese people lived. He really didn't understand, at this point he felt more like he was making up reasons for her to piss him off, because all the things that he thought about sounded absurd and quite pitiful from his part. There was really nothing that was wrong!

Maybe there really wasn't anything wrong about her. The way she seemed so comfortable with everyone unnerved him some. She seemed to be ok with talking with the perverted Lavi, the annoying Moyashi, and to Lenalee. Yet... She hadn't really directed a word his way, just telling him how to care for her kids, which he had no responsibility over and yet he had listened to her, taking her kids and carrying them. Two of them had even called him 'father,' which he suspected everyone else, aside from Lavi, had not understood the meaning. He needed to teach those brats how to talk to him with respect.

And then, when Moriko had taken the kid he had fed, her lips touched him. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that it had been an accident. Kanda was positive that that woman had done that on purpose. He felt her smile against his neck! What else could that have meant? There was nothing else that it could have meant, there really was nothing else. But thinking about that small physical contact with her, he felt it go through his body, he could feel it again, the sensation of her lips lightly touching all of his body.

A shiver broke through him as he imagined what it would be like to actually have her lips on him. Would they still feel as soft if she put any pressure on her touch? Would they be warm? How would it feel to touch her lips? What about the rest of her body? Would her skin be as soft as it looked? He had gotten a small glimpse of her skin as she had leaned to get her child. It was even more fair than her face or hands. Flawless, what would it look like with markings all across her chest? Would teeth marks leave scars behind? Better yet, would she like to be bitten or would she be the one doing the biting?

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Kanda could only see the image of the woman, sliding down the kimono from her body. Dropping the kimono on the floor, he could use the obi to tie her, leaving her helpless and at his mercy. The images and the lewd sounds that he thought would come from her lips made his blood boil once more, heating up his body and urging him to let the heat out, but not knowing how. He laid on his bed and thought that perhaps a cold bath would do him good, but before he could even walk to the small adjoining bathroom, his bedroom door opened.

"How is your body?"

Instead of answering, Kanda grabbed Mugen and held it against the woman's throat. What the hell was she doing here? How did she even know that this was his room? This must be a sick joke if she came asking about his body. But before he could threaten her, she slid her hand over Mugen's blade and continued up to his arm until her hand had grabbed at the back of his neck and pulled him in.

"Kanda," she murmured against his lips. "I asked you a question, won't you answer? Or should I find out for myself?"

With that said, she closed the gap and felt his body react violently towards her kiss. He pressed Mugen until it drew a sliver of blood and pushed her against the door, closing it. Her hands found their place on his shoulders and held him there until they both ran out of breath as their tongues roamed in each other's mouth. Even when their lungs begged for oxygen, they continued their silent, but vicious, battle, neither giving an inch until their lungs finally gave out and felt as if they had been on fire. As their bodies needed to recover from the lack of air, the next attack continued with her neck.

Kanda, seeing the blood on Moriko's throat, deemed that Mugen was only getting in his way as the blood caught his eye and his mouth watered. His eyes reflected a strong lust, which only excited her more, ready to see what this man would be doing to her. He locked her arms down and leaned down so that he could see her eyes. His next target was her throat. Nuzzling her neck, he bit tenderly at the junction and let his tongue slide across the span of her skin there, taking in the light scent of flowers, dampened earth, and rain. It drove him to mark her and started to suck, her raspy breaths hitting his ear and rushing blood to his lower body.

After being satisfied with his work on her neck, he went back to his original target: her throat. He let his tongue lap at the thin line of blood going down to her chest, letting the metallic taste swirl in his mouth. He continued, licking at the wound and biting at it while he was at it too. Moriko's head had hit back, showing Kanda more of her neck and trying to keep her lips sealed, which had come to annoy the swordsman. Licking and biting roughly, he coaxed her to let him hear her voice, even if she kept it quiet, he wanted to hear it. With a rough treatment to her neck, he left a deep bite on her collarbone, drawing blood, until she finally moaned for him.

Once the first moan escaped, the rest followed and continued to pour out from her lips. With each moan, Kanda felt a little bit more light-headed and dizzy, his mind letting him feel the friction between both their bodies in an explosive way, something that he had not felt ever. The more he tortured the woman under him, the more he had the need to grind himself against her, it was too late for that cold shower. The friction had started to become unbearable and wanted to feel her skin under him as well, not be held back by the obstructive pieces of cloth that covered them. Kanda's hands released her arms and went to untie the obi behind her as her hands found his shoulders once more and started to stroke his chest, feeling the tight muscles flex under her finger tips.

The obi was infuriating, it was just in the way. His growl was muffled as Moriko reached for his lips and sighed as his tongue attacked her once more. This time, however, Kanda let her dominate while he was still occupied with that damned obi. She almost laughed when he made a small sound of victory as she attacked him with renewed vigor. The obi finally pooling at their feet, Kanda slipped his hands into the folds of her kimono, untying everything so that the black cloth was open for him. As the cold air hit her, Moriko let her hand drop to the hip of the swordsman, helping grind herself on the hard bulge that had been growing in the man's pants. The sensation was driving her crazy, she couldn't breathe, she was short of breath and she could feel the wetness of her womanhood dripping down her thighs and staining the pants of the man before her.

"You never told me, Kanda," she managed to say in one breath. "How is your body?" she said with a little sarcasm.

At this, she started to push Kanda back towards the window, where outside the rain continued to reign in the sky. A lightning flashed across the night and shined through the window, showing the man the flawless painting that was Moriko bare in front of him. Her skin had taken a slight shimmer as more lighting flashed, and her eyes shined a dangerous blue. He extended a hand and laid it on her hip, gripping her in a bruising manner, wanting to make sure that this woman was truly real and in front of him. Once she had made him sit on the window sill, she had started undressing him, her kimono spread across the floor as they had made their way to the window.

"Do you want to know how my body is? Don't just stand there, I want to feel you, too."

With this invitation, Kanda's hands resumed their mapping of the body displayed in front of him, putting more pleasure at times when Moriko's freezing fingers traced a pattern on his skin as she played with his shirt and his stomach. In the back of his mind he questioned when she had taken off his Exorcist coat that laid to his side. His hand went up and grabbed her head, taking the chopsticks out and letting her hair cascade down her wondrous curves, mesmerizing him as light reflected on the black tresses. Letting his hand trail down her back, one finger pressing along her spine, he felt her shiver and throw her head back in another moan, forgetting about unbuttoning the shirt and ending with ripping it.

His hand reached her ass and groped it, pulling her body to his as his other hand held her back so that she wouldn't get away from him. He thrusted into her and she rolled her hips as she panted out her pleasure, holding onto his shoulders and she swung her leg onto his hips, rutting on his groin. He was so close to losing it and reaching his climax that he felt like treating the woman roughly as a punishment. He leaned down and captured one of her nipples in his mouth and tugged at it, hearing a wonderful scream rip from her mouth as she dug her nails on his shoulders. Licking from the tortured nipple to her neck and leaving a small kiss on it, he stopped his hips and made her step back on weak legs.

"If you cared about my body, you would have already taken this pain from me, don't you think?" Kanda responded, pointing at his pants.

Putting her hands on his shoulders once more, she slid her palms down Kanda's toned body, relishing the feeling of the tightening muscles under hands, letting out a deep sigh as her hands reached their destination. She kept her eyes glued to the man's as she unbuttoned and unzipped the pants, letting her hands draw an image of the manhood. Feeling the prominent vein, she lightly traced it and received a shiver from the body that was at her mercy.

"Now suck," the man ordered as he grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled the woman down towards his dick.

Not responding, Moriko kneeled and took her work with a smirk on her lips before sticking out her tongue and giving an experimental lick on the head. The man above her hissed as her tongue massaged the underside of his manhood and traced with the tip of her tongue the vein pulsing there. Kanda let his head hit the window as Moriko continued her ministrations. She had thoroughly coated the member and had decided to take it into her mouth when she suckled on the head and heard a groan produced by the man who had been holding his composure until now. His hand grabbed at her hair again and pushed the woman's lips down, setting a rhythm of her mouth taking him in.

"Hah," he breathed out. "You must have a lot of experience doing this, your tongue is wonderful and your mouth is so fucking hot."

Moriko hummed as she took him deeper and let him hit the back of her throat. She felt hot, she liked how the member in her mouth seemed to come alive as her heat engulfed it. Its skin gliding on her tongue as she tried to hold it in her mouth for a longer time, she wanted to suck it hard, twirl her tongue around it and take it in again until it hit the back of her throat and that is what she did. Letting it out of her mouth, she slurped the pre-cum that had started to drip and welcomed the hair-pulling when Kanda groaned a moan that made her body shake as she took in the member once more.

Kanda detached the hot cavern from his dick when he felt her start to play with his balls, knowing very well that the pleasure would make him lose control. She enjoyed the small restraint he had, caressing his thighs, she saw how the veins in his neck popped as her hands continued their roaming. Attaching her lips to the skin under her hands and his abdominals, her hands made quick work of his boots and tugged off the pants, letting his masculine glory be entirely appreciated by her eyes.

Once they both had not a single piece of clothing on their skin, they stared at each other. Kanda sitting on the window sill, Moriko on the floor, between his legs. As she stood up, he followed and before she could even step forward, he had closed the distance and engulfed her in a heated kiss. Her arms flew around him and swung her leg around his hip again, grinding on him as she was finally able to feel him completely.

"And you as well, Kanda," she said. "You move your hips perfectly," she purred into his ear. Arching her back to be flush against him, he grabbed her other leg and wrapped it around him. With his manhood touching her flesh, he groaned and attacked the skin in from of him, right above her heart. Her sighs sang in melody around the room and bounced off the walls, their echo coming back to him.

Dropping her on the bed, he looked at the woman taking over his bed. He was sure that this must be a dream and he was going to enjoy it as much as he could. A dream hardly ever came to him, much less one of these. Kanda was going to make sure to remember it.


	5. Chapter 5

The morning had come and Kanda found himself waking from one of the most intense dreams he had ever had, especially since he barely dreamed. This dream had filled him with ecstasy, that he found himself questioning whether it had really been a dream at all. He knew that the proof of that would be long gone from his body, knowing that a deep cut would be healed within the day, then bites and scratches would have been gone by the morning. He noticed, however, that his bed and pillow smelled differently. Or more like, they had an actual smell, whereas it would normally have none. His entire room smelled like rain and he knew that he would never open the window and that he hadn't last night.

Deciding to ignore those thoughts, he stood to start his day, after all, the rain seemed to be stopping soon, and that only meant that he would soon be dispatched to a mission. Hopefully by the time he came back from his mission, that woman and her brats would be very far away and see them no more. Perhaps if General Cross decided to disappear once more, his daughter and kids would disappear with him. Take your damned family away from an important place like this!

Although Kanda had taken longer than he had expected, he was now going to Komui's office, where he had been informed that he was needed. Walking along the corridor, he heard the cries that he recognized to be Yume's, closing the distance between him and the office. Bracing himself for the unwanted company of the intruding family, he walked into the Supervisor's office, hoping not to stay more than necessary. He really didn't want to see the woman that had come to him last night, he couldn't face her, having dreamt of her in a way that was not appropriate, especially when she was a mother. He gave a small plead before opening the door and walked in with a firm stance.

"Ah, Kanda," Komui clapped his hands, "just in time for me to brief you all together."

Just great, he just had to have a mission with them. Moriko had claimed a corner of the couch and was feeding the baby, while Allen took the other corner and sat the youngest red-head on his lap as Komui passed them all the reports from the Finders investigating this case. Cross had taken to stand close to the Supervisor's desk, trying to see if there were other reports for him to use as an excuse to take a long trip and never come back.

"Well, get this over with. The sooner we start, the sooner I can leave these people," Kanda responded, walking behind the couch. There was no way that he was going to sit down close to any of these people, that woman being the main reason.

He wasn't sure if it had been the best idea, because from this position he could see the back of Moriko's neck and saw that she had different marks, including what appeared to be a big bruise hidden by the kimono and a bite mark that he could swear were in the same places he had left them on her in the dream from last night. The kimono had been brushed aside to let Yume feed and gave Kanda a glimpse of Moriko's collarbones, which he once again swore he had bitten there.

Fuck, he thought. It wasn't a damned dream, she really did sneak into my room and I had my way with her.

Feeling the stare in the back of her neck, Moriko turned around to meet gazes with Kanda. She gave him a small smile and shamelessly let her eyes take in the image of the swordsman, letting her sight graze along his body and met his eyes once more. Without uttering a word, she reminded him of the passionate night that they had spent together and sharing her disappointment at seeing his clothing back on his body.

Such a shame that you can't walk around without your coat and shirt. I'm sure the Order's spirits would go up because of you, she sighed. I know I would be in high spirits if you did.

Not wanting to remember anything from the previous night, Kanda payed attention as Komui started walking towards the map he had in his office. The last thing he wanted was to embarrass himself and get an erection in front of his most hated nuisance, the second most stupid person he had the misfortune of knowing, and the most perverted man alive, according to many. Kanda thought that it was too late for him to even think of the possibility of even feeling embarrassment in front of the woman, he was sure if she saw his lower body acting like that, it would only excite her more, if last night told him anything about the woman's, and apparently his, impressive libido.

"The Finders have reported an odd occurrence within the developing areas across Europe. It seems that some places have been known to keep akumas as townspeople. These places are some sort of 'nesting' places for akuma to reside in as they wait for their following order. Finders have reported the increasing numbers of businesses and new residents that coincide with the major akuma attacks throughout Europe and going across to Asia. These reports also tell of the business branching happening in the cities that had been previously decimated by the attacks. We believe that these place may be fronts for hiding akuma.

You will be going to the town of Salinas in Spain. The Finders have found that even though this is still a developing town, it will reach status and recognition as a city in a few short months as soon as it merges with the surrounding villages, which come to count to about 10 in total. This town seems to be the center of these akuma nests. Even though there are other places like this one across Europe and Asia, other Exorcists have been sent there. The reason why all of you will be going is because the town of Salinas seems to also be the heart of the leading operations, managing the growth of the other nests. We believe that one of the Noah may be in charge of this or else a human partnered with them.

Lenalee, Timothy and Lavi have gone ahead of you undercover as tourists. As soon as you have been briefed by them and you are ready to start your work, a group of Finders will take the children back here or to a safe place if something were to-"

"The kids are coming along?!" Kanda screamed in disbelief. "We are Exorcists! Not babysitters! Are you out of your mind?! They shouldn't even be here and now you want to us to bring them to the mission?!"

Daisuke, startled by the outburst from the swordsman, looked back at the man and pouted with round, teary eyes. The man, not wanting to even think about the crying that would start within the minute, looked away as he openly glared at the man that called himself the Supervisor of HeadQuarters.

"This is not known to anyone, yet. But General Cross' family all have Innocence. Not only are all of them Accommodators, but Moriko and her 3 oldest children have high synchronization rates with their Innocence. Also, Moriko will be in charge of this mission, seeing as she has lived there before and can make use of the few resources she has in the town. Her children will take care of the level ones, if there are higher leveled akumas attacking you. Consider this assignment similar to the type of place that Edo was. It's like an akuma factory and will be crawling with akumas."

"Moyashi knows this well, but I don't care who it is, if somebody gets in my way, I will not stop my attack. I will not be there to help or protect her brats, got it?" the swordsman gritted his teeth.

"No need to worry," Moriko flashed him a quick smirk. "My children know how to defend themselves, it's in their blood, after all. My little Exorcists don't need you to save them, I'm their mother, that's what I do."

Before anyone could continue the argument, little footsteps were heard running towards the Supervisor's office and smash through the door. In came the remaining of the children, Jerry following the older half while he delightedly carried the youngest of the four. It seemed that the children had just been fitted for their Exorcist uniforms and had taken the time to wait for their mother's to be finished so that they could deliver it to her. The children went to show their grandfather and the Supervisor their new work clothes as they showed off how they now looked like their grandfather and their Uncle Allen.

Hideaki, having been wanting to talk to his Otou-san since the previous day, walked carefully towards him and waited to be acknowledged so that he may speak. However, what he got instead was a small glare his way and, quite honestly, he was tired of his Otou-san acting like this. Was he mad at them? Was he mad that Okaa-san didn't have an adult conversation with him, like she does with Empa? It wasn't fair that all the people in their new home said horrible things about his Otou-san, those people didn't know him! But they always talked bad about him and told him not to get close to him or else his Otou-san would do something bad to him, he might hurt him. Which he did not believe at all! And he was going to show everyone that they were wrong!

"Otou-san," Hideaki looked deeply into Kanda's eyes.

What is wrong with this kid?! Where did he get the idea to call him 'father'? Doesn't he know that his whole family annoys him? Especially that mother of his. He needed to show this boy to not take him lightly.

"I'm very happy that I'm going on my first mission with you, Otou-san. I will make you proud, I promise," the red-head bowed to the man in front of him and then walked out the office and to his grandfather's suite to pack his things and his siblings' for the coming trip.

Kanda was not sure how to respond to Hideaki's proclamation. Otou-san? Happy with him? Make him proud? He had to admit, the kid had guts to even talk to him, not like some people in the Order that start to stutter when they see him. Even though the kid had guts, that alone would not save him from the horrors of war that awaited him. It was so bad for the kid to live in this time, he should be playing like kids his age, but then again, Exorcist were born for this war, nothing else.

"There you have it, Ponytail. My boy will show you how to be a real man. You, too, Apprentice," added the General. "Take notes," he laughed.

With that as his exit, he took Takashi from Jerry and followed his oldest grandchild to the suite to get ready for the mission. Soon after, Allen and Moriko followed to also get ready for the trip, the two other kids at their heels. Kanda, knowing well that he would not be able to handle being with these people, decided to leave to the forest outside the HeadQuarter's walls to have some time for himself and to mentally prepare himself for the annoyance of the mission that he was sure would at least take a good week or two if they had to get rid of 10 villages with sleeping akuma armies.

"Just what I needed," Kanda muttered as he sees the red-head standing in one of his favorite clearing of trees. "Why did he have to come here of all places?"

He stayed to watch as the boy finally broke his frozen stance and moved his left foot forward. What happened next, Kanda did not imagine would happen in a million years.

Hideaki was blindfolded. His small Exorcist shirt neatly folded on top of his boots which he had placed at the bottom of a tree which also had his suitcase. The boy was also barefooted and in his small hands he held a sword. His left foot forward, he held the sword and sliced through the air in a perfect horizontal line. His stance stayed and his arms moved with eased practice. How was such a young child capable of keeping perfect form while carrying an actual sword? Kanda was completely impressed and kept watching as Hideaki continued to go through some more movements until he picked a rock close to his foot and threw it towards Kanda's direction. He stood still for a bit longer, waiting for his audience to make the first move.

"Who taught you?" curiosity won Kanda over.

Surprised to hear his Otou-san's voice, Hideaki quickly took off his blindfold and bowed to his father. Now he felt embarrassed. What if his practice was lame and his Otou-san thought that he was no good? And after telling him that he would make him proud and he had wanted to show him that he could do the job well, even if he was just a little boy. He couldn't meet the man's eyes, he could feel his face getting hot. Ah! How embarrassing! He bet that Otou-san had never felt embarrassed in his life!

Kanda kept waiting for an answer, enjoying the way the boy seemed to be surprised and embarrassed. Served him right, after repeatedly calling him his father without permission and... not that even if the boy asked permission would he let him call him 'father.' However, the boy was good with the sword considering his age and still growing body. Now what he wanted was to see if the boy was capable of destroying an akuma by himself. Knowing how to hold a sword wasn't enough in a battle especially if it was with many opponents. Could his body withstand a battle? He had withstood a horrible experience when he was young, when he had been born, but he has manufactured, Hideaki wasn't and he was younger than when it happened to him.

"Umm... Okaa-san taught me, but now I have to learn by myself because she has a different style of sword fight, so I can't learn that. She told me that I know the basics and that from there my body will learn a style just for me when I fight. Was it... Did I do bad?" he asked quietly.

Surprised by the child's self-doubt, he chuckled and withdrew Mugen. He stepped to the clearing, leaving his Exorcist coat besides the boy's things and started with his practice. He wondered if it was a good idea to do so, perhaps the boy needed to practice more because he was nervous or something. However, Kanda himself needed something to take his nerves away. He was going on a mission not only with the Moyashi, which was already too much of a bother, but also with one of the worst generals, right about now would be a good idea to switch and go with his own general, and of course, last but not least, that woman.

He did not honestly know what he was expecting of the woman now. A trip that would take at the least a week, not counting the traveling. Would she try anything with her children there? She had already attacked him in his own room in the Order, he saw the possibility of another attack if they were to all stay together in the same place. Hopefully she would not try to sneak into his room or else he might voluntarily room with Moyashi as his last form of protection. She would most likely stay in a room with all her children, the General in another and more than probably he and Allen would end up sharing a room. Although this seemed the most likely plan, he wasn't sure what could happen with this woman, knowing that she might be as sneaky as her father.

Once he felt the slight coat of sweat forming on his body he stopped and sheathed Mugen. The boy let out a small gasp as he went over the movements his father had done. He looks starstruck, Kanda mused. If something like this amazes him then his mother must not have been teaching well or maybe she is not good at all. Now he couldn't wait for her to embarrass herself in the field after her smirking face claiming that it was her job to protect her children if the need ever came up.

"I-Otou-san, would you teach me?"

Kanda actually gave it some thought. Had it been anyone else he would not have even spared a second to refuse him, but the kid seemed strong. He could take this boy as his apprentice and mold him into an extraordinary Exorcist, especially since he already showed some promise of being good with a sword. The idea didn't seem so bad when he thought about it. As a general himself, it was his job to look for and train new Exorcists, something that he had given up and had only taken his position as general in title only, not abiding to do his actual job and find new Accommodators. He didn't travel the world like his general, but he did his job in searching for and protecting Innocence. That is all he needed to do.

"Maybe," was his answer as he considered the good and the bad. The only thing he saw as bad was his mother, but if he could take him in travels while training him, there would be no need for him to see the mother.

"Really, Otou-san? You would really teach me? I will do anything to be a good student and not let you down," the boy responded excited.

"I said that 'maybe' I would, I still haven't made a decision, ok?"

Kanda put back on his Exorcist coat and walked out of the clearing. This mission might not be so bad if he took it as a test to see if he should take on this boy as an apprentice. In his mind, Kanda already considered him his apprentice, he had seen how the boy's eyes followed his movements and how his gaze was as intense as Moyashi's when food or akuma were presented in front of him. The boy was sure to be a good student and an even better Exorcist if trained vigorously. He would tell his decision to Komui once this mission was over, he wanted to know how much this boy could do at his current level.

"You better hurry, Hideaki. Or else you won't be able to show me how strong you are if you miss this mission," Kanda tempted.

Hideaki quickly put on his boots and grabbed his things, running out of the clearing to catch up to the swordsman, he smiled happily as his father had finally called him by his name.


	6. Chapter 6

They had taken two carriages to the bus station so that everyone would not be cramped into one. General Cross had taken Daisuke and Takashi with him into the first carriage and had helped Moriko in as she carried the baby. Allen and Kanda were right behind them, their guards were seated with them, Ai and Shizuka seating with Allen in between them and Hideaki sharing with Kanda. Allen had thought it strange how he had immediately taken a seat with the young general and hurried his siblings to seat with their Uncle Allen. The oldest boy seemed to have taken a liking to Kanda just like Yume had the previous night. Or maybe Hideaki didn't like him?! He preferred to be with that BaKanda instead of his uncle? What had he done to deserve this treatment?

"So children, how do you like your new home so far? Is it okay?" Allen started, knowing that it was better not to ask about their short past as his master had warned him.

"Yes, Uncle Allen! The place is so big and we can explore everything! It's amazing!" Ai responded.

"And the forest is so beautiful as well. I can train there, it's perfect, right, Otou-san?" Hideaki looked to his father. The man grunted in response.

"I've been meaning to ask... What is it that you are calling him, Hideaki?" his uncle asked, pointing at Kanda.

"Otou-san! Uncle Allen, do you know what 'Otou-san' is? 'Otou-san' is 'father' in Japanese," Shizuka answered, giving a shy smile to his father as well.

"What?! Why would you call him that? He is just like all of us, your uncle, isn't he? Or is it that you have met him before?"

"No, it's just that he is Otou-san, right, Nii-san?" Ai turned to Hideaki.

The little boy nodded and continued the conversation that his uncle had started.

"Uncle Allen, how come we never saw you before? We saw Empa sometimes, but I don't really remember... Where were you?"

"Umm, I didn't know I had a sister or that she had babies. But you know? Meeting you all is one of the happiest things that has ever happened to me. Even though the people at the Order are like my family, you and your mom are my family as well. So it makes me very happy to know that the family I have is growing bigger and bigger. Don't you think so?"

The children sitting with him squished him in a hug and agreed with him. Letting the kids crawl unto his lap, Allen returned their hug and looked to Hideaki and Kanda as a funny idea came to mind.

"You know, Kanda. Since the kids are my nieces and nephews and they see you as their father, that means we are related~"

The other man's eye twitched as he fought the urge to stab the fool who dared call himself an Exorcist. He breathed in deeply and stared out the window of the carriage as the littlest child exclaimed that it was true. Ai, who had seen the man's reaction chuckled and sat down on her spot again, leaning against her uncle's arm and took in the man in front of her.

Ai thought that the man looked beautiful, almost like a woman but at the same time not like a woman. She was sure that many people might have been interested in him. Otou-san was one of a kind, but then she and Yume looked like him more than they looked like Okaa-san. She thought that maybe because she looks more like him, when she grows up she would be beautiful like him, too. What she liked the best about her father was that even though he looked like a mean and angry man, he had carried Yume and fed Daisuke. To her, this meant that Otou-san was a strong person, but that he was also nice, even though he didn't know so. She was really happy that she got to meet her father, not like the other people that tried to talk to her. Ai wanted to be like Hideaki and be able to talk to Otou-san, too, but she didn't know how. She wanted to know about him.

"Otou-san, you don't want to be together with Uncle Allen?" Shizuka asked.

"Uncle Allen and Otou-san can't be brothers because Otou-san and Okaa-san are not married, Shizuka. But if they do, then they will be brothers and our family will be very happy!"

As Kanda was about to reject the absurdity of the idea of him marrying their mother and becoming brothers with Moyashi, the door to the carriage opened and the train station could be seen. The sky showed that it was mid-afternoon, so if everything went according to plan, they would arrive in Spain by nightfall, having given Lenalee and her group the whole day to gather some intel on the town and some villagers. They would meet in three days' time, if not sooner.

"Come children, we need to get to our seats and put our things up, too!" their mother called out. "You can take a nap once we get on, ok?"

In her arms, the baby whimpered once she heard Allen and Kanda bickering about marriage and family.

"Think about it! We could be brothers, BaKanda! It would be lovely!" Allen laughed.

"I would sooner marry Lenalee and die by Komui's outrageous experiments. That's how much I want to be related to you, Moyashi," the other threw back.

At these words, General Cross stepped up to both and gave them a deadly glare.

"What is that supposed to mean? Is my girl no good or what?"

"Tch, she's your daughter and Moyashi's sister, that's what's no good about her. Why would I want anything to do with any of you?"

"Good answer, but one way or another, she's just way out of your league, Ponytail. Don't go thinking you're all that because you're a general as well."

Everyone had gotten to their compartment when they saw how big and fancy it was. The Order usually had some first class cars reserved for them, but that was nothing compared to this one. This car consisted of 3 rooms. One a sitting room with a small kitchenette at its side, the other two rooms were resting rooms, basically bedrooms. One room had a king size bed with 2 cribs added for the little ones and its own bathroom. The other room had two queen size beds and had a screen between them to have their own space as well as a bathroom.

"I will put the children to their nap and then we can talk about the mission. Go ahead and put your things in the room, I will make tea for us."

Allen took his things and moved them to the room with the queen size beds. He was grateful that he would be able to lie in a bed, even if it was for a couple of hours and even more grateful to have this screen to not look at that irritated Kanda. Going out to take his master's things into the other room, he saw the children dragging a very agitated Kanda into their room, begging and begging that they wanted to take a nap with him. He looked around for help from the other general but all he did was take his suitcase and throw it at his apprentice to take to the other room. Now Allen felt like helping Kanda, he was sure that his enemy would be a better roommate than his Master.

"Go on, Apprentice. Make yourself useful and take my things to our room. After that, serve me some wine and prepare the tea for Moriko. Hurry," the General ordered.

"Wait! Moyashi, tell your nephews to stop playing around and let go of me!"

"But, Otou-san! Let's sleep together, Yume wants you to carry her again! Look at her," Ai held Kanda's hands.

Moriko only stood by the crib where she had already laid Daisuke for his nap. She cradled Yume and watched as the other children won the tug of war with Kanda and got him to enter the room. Takashi, deeming that the war was over, jumped on the bed and waited for his siblings and his father to join him in the big bed. Shizuka, who was very shy around his father, asked quietly with his eyes for the man to stay with them. And truly, Kanda seemed to be caught by the pleading eyes and had given up.

"Alright already. Go to sleep first, we adults need to talk about important things. I'll come back when we're done, deal?" Kanda grunted.

As a sign of his part of the deal, he dropped his suitcase besides the edge of the bed and left his coat on the chair besides one of the cribs. The children cheered and took of their shoes to jump on the bed. Crawling under the covers, Takashi waved at the man by the doorway and cuddled to his sister. Shizuka snuggled up to the little boy and tried to fall asleep, leaving Hideaki to tuck them in.

He had decided that if he wanted to make Otou-san proud, he would pay attention and do his best in the mission. So he followed his parents to the sitting area and took a seat next to his father as he and Empa gave him a raised eyebrow. He was going to be part of this meeting, even if he couldn't give his opinions, he would listen diligently so that he would know what was going to happen and what he needed to do. He was a big boy, afterall.

"Well, this is a map of the town and its surrounding villages," Moriko placed it on the small table for everyone to see. "At the moment Lenalee and the others are staying at one of the smaller villages, they think that it may be a sort of storage for any kind of supplies. From there they will split for a day and the three will take in the other villages, on the third day they will meet with us and tell us the situation, while we investigate the town itself."

At this moment the kettle signaled the boiling water is ready. Moriko and Allen stood to get the tea ready as the two generals and the boy study the map closely.

"The villages are not that far apart, so it will be easy for the akumas to get reinforcements, but also for us to destroy the nests faster."

"Well, knowing Bookman Jr., he has already searched the town's and villages' history, he might have found a hideout within each of them. They were used during the times of war, Moriko and I know of at least 5 in the town, maybe we can find more this time around. We will be staying in the center of town, anybody important or with connections will be at the same hotel as us," Cross explained.

"Since you and Moriko know this town, mark which parts of the town have the highest probabilities to house a nest. Moyashi can go and see if his eye picks up anything and we'll go from there."

"It won't be as easy as that, General," Moriko said as she placed the teacups and teapot on the table as Allen placed the cookies beside them.

"What else is there?"

"There is a problem. The last time I was in the Town of Salinas, the presence of akumas were barely noticeable. Their sound from the previous times I had been there seemed to have gotten quieter, so it's really difficult to know if there are akumas or not. Before you ask," she held up her hand. "Much like Allen's eye that can see akuma, I can hear them, similar to Marie. However, I can hear them even when they are in their human shapes. And I'm sure that just because the populations of akuma and human alike have been increasing, doesn't mean that it will be easier to hear them. I suspect that there is something else in that place that hides away the akumas. It's likely that Allen won't be able to see them."

General Cross was surprised that she had told them about her ability of hearing akuma. They were going to be in trouble if neither she nor Allen could locate the akuma before they attacked. They had a good cover, so there really wasn't a need for them to go as Exorcists. He had spent a lot of time 'entertaining' the lovely ladies from this town, he figured they owed him a couple of favors. Besides, aside from scoring a chance to escape in the chaos of the end of the attacks, their plan actually allowed him to be as frivolous as his heart desired. This had to be the best mission he had ever had.

As General Cross hummed to himself, thinking of the leisure he was going to have in this mission, Hideaki went to sit next to his mother.

"Okaa-san, we are going to be staying in the big town and then meet with Auntie Lena, right?"

Moriko nodded and put him on her lap.

"We are going to pretend that we are a big family going on a vacation while I work. Oh, don't look at me like that! If I don't work, then there will be-"

"No information on the akumas, I know. It's going to be very sad not to have you around. Is there anything that I can do to help with your work?"

"No, baby, its adult work. But during the day we can take walks around the town and maybe the closest villages. You can tell me what you think of the place and how we can plan an attack or a defense."

The little boy nodded and nuzzled into her neck. At least we will be able to spend some time together, he thought.

As another thought came to the mother, she reached over to the swordsman and smiled at him.

"You know, he is going to need help knowing the people that Okaa-san talks to when she works, so why don't you spend some time with him when we are in the hotel? You can tell him about the important people and Ai and Shizuka can go with Uncle Allen and Empa. How about that?"

Hideaki smiled greatly as the thought of spending some time with his father alone came to mind. Not only that but he would be able to help with Okaa-san's work. And at the same time he would be helping with the mission! He knew the people that she talked to, so there was no problem!

"I have better things to do, like hunting down akumas."

"Nope. No hunting or killing anything for the first couple of days. We need to stay under the radar and learn as much as we can about this town without bringing attention to ourselves...as exorcists. With our reputation, we can do as we please," interrupted Cross.

"Which means you have to tone it down a little bit, Father. Our patrons may slip up if you show off too much."

"Understood. What's the plan?"

"Same as the last time. People have been asking where Esmeralda has gone, so make sure you mingle as much as possible, as well as Allen and General Kanda. Won't you fill Allen in on his job? He will be assisting you with our patrons, so don't use him as your slave. He will be part of my entourage along with the others once they arrive. As for General Kanda, he will be my attendant. Well," she said as she took Hideaki up with her. "I will be going to sleep with my children. Please tell them what to do, Father."

"Otou-san?"

Hideaki looked back to where his father stayed seated. A look of confusion came over the general's face as he looked back at the boy. With a grunt, Kanda reminded himself of the deal he had made with that woman's children. Getting up and following them, he heard Moyashi snickering behind him and threw him a glare before entering and closing the door to his temporary Hell.

"Wouldn't it be better for your father to sleep here with you all instead of me? Surely this is the way you have lived," was the first thing that Kanda said.

"Under normal circumstances, yes. However, my children seem to be strangely attached to you, so it must mean something. You can take the right side, next to Ai, I'll turn off the lights and close the curtains."

She proceeded to do as she had said and then took Shizuka, leaving his space for his eldest brother. After telling them softly to have a good nap, she closed her eyes and held her child to her heart so he may sleep.

Kanda was not sure what to do. The children seemed ready to fall asleep, there would be no need for him to lay down as well when he could simply walk out. Just as the thought crossed his mind, a hand grabbed at his shirt.

"They will know if you are not in bed with us, General. Lay down and rest with the children. You will have a long night tonight after all," the mother informed him.

"You said I'm to be your attendant. What is my role?"

Laying down on the king-sized bed, he felt the girl instantly move closer to him. He remained still for a few seconds until he was forced to move to his side, letting her cuddle to him. She grabbed at his shirt and laid her head to his chest, her breathing soon matching his.

"Some years ago, I became an entertainer, sang at night at grand hotels. This made our livelihood quite easy, seeing as I was an easy target and called much attention from many people. This is how I came to have connections all over Europe. Father managed me, so he was in touch with even more people. Basically, we were hiding in plain view. Sometimes I would go off by myself, sometimes Father and I worked together. This was a sure way of traveling and following on akuma attacks. It worked perfectly.

And because of this we are going to be using it again. We may be more people, but this only means we are able to talk to more patrons and obtain information quicker. There are a couple of things you must know as my attendant. Honestly, it's quite simple. You are to always be by my side, be it as a bodyguard, as my helper, or as my maid."

"You should have kept the Moyashi with you. A general acting as your servant is the most humiliating I have ever done. Look for somebody else, I will be keeping watch around the town, looking and destroying akuma, since that is actually my job!"

"And you seem to forget, General, that I'm in charge of this mission. Nobody will be talking to a stranger, much less with that attitude of yours. This is the town that I came to be. This town owes me its beginnings, I know it better than anyone else. Don't worry, I won't make you work that hard."

With that, Moriko went back to trying to sleep, already planning on how to make the General's night as miserable as possible without it seeming to be out of the line.

The adults had woken up halfway through the children's nap, knowing the kids were going to need to stay asleep at night while they did their work at the hotel. General Cross and his daughter were speaking about their opening performance, the hotel had already been informed of the surprise comeback of their jewel. The two talking about business left the young general and his rival alone, wondering what they could do with their traveling time.

"Do you want to split the villages? I know that Lenalee, Lavi and Timothy are looking into them, but maybe we can make it faster," Allen broke the silence between them, in hope to do something productive.

"Might as well."

Kanda walked back to the small table, waiting for the Moyashi to bring the map so that they could get something done. There were ten villages, less than an hour away from each other, it was a good idea to split them up, get their job done, and never have to be close to that drunkard general and his deranged daughter.

The pairs worked like this for the remaining of the trip to the town of Salinas, the children excited for their first mission and seeing a new place. At their arrival, carriages were at the front waiting for them which would take them to a small inn which would serve as a base for them and the other three Exorcists. Here they would keep their Exorcist coats and anything that would alert any neighboring akuma. Entering one of the rooms, General Cross saw a folder on one of the beds.

"Looks like the others checked out the village right outside the town, not much to go by. And Junior left a map of the underground tunnels, we can check those out tomorrow. Seems they are going to cross the valley and go to the furthest village first and work back here."

"That's a good plan, we can go by the ones they haven't checked out yet. Maybe we can split up and cover more ground."

"Ah, BaKanda and I already divided up the villages. We thought we could pair off and finish quicker," Allen informed them as he folded his coat and grabbed the suitcase with their "normal" clothes.

"That's great! Give General Kanda and Hideaki the bigger villages, Father along with Ai will go too as well. Allen, you, the children and I will take the smaller villages, there is no way that the older people will not talk to us with this big cuteness factor, I'm sure you will charm everyone."

"I refuse to work with a child."

Kanda continued to put on his new outfit. As Allen only had to change his vest and coat, he had started to help dress the younger kids. As the babies were changed quickly, it was only Moriko who need to change now.

"Come, General. I will show you one of your duties as my attendant. Father, won't you get the children ready to leave for the hotel? The babies should be fed and ready to put to sleep once we arrive, it has been a long day."

"You heard her, let's get the kids ready. Grab Daisuke and feed him," General Cross said as he placed Yume in his arms and hurried the other children out of room to make their way downstairs to the carriages.

The last thing that Allen saw was his sister placing a ruby red dress on the bed as she gave a stunned Kanda a smirk that he wished he had never seen and hoped never to see again.

"Master, what is Sister going to teach BaKanda? Is she going to make him wear the dress?" he snickered at his absurd imagination.

"Something like that, I'm sure he is going to regret saying that."


	7. Chapter 7

"Now, as my attendant you will have to undress me and dress me, it's quite difficult to get the back. Undress me," she commanded.

She waited with her arms outstretched as she stepped up to the young general, waiting for him to start doing his job.

"What are you waiting for? You have undressed me before, no need to be shy," she teased him.

"I will not be doing this, what is the purpose of this? Are you messing with me?!"

"Not at all, General. I actually think that you are playing hard to get, right? You want to undress me like last time, don't you? With more force and with more time? My, General. I didn't know you had the guts to demand something like this, during a mission much less! However, I am not opposed to it whatsoever. I think I would rather enjoy it, wouldn't you?"

She had invaded his personal space long ago and now it took his all not to push her back. In what manner, he was not sure. Push her back because she was annoying him or because of the urge to repeat the events from the previous night? He needed to leave, but he had a feeling he would not be able to escape her.

Pulling her to his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and started to undo the obi. Her hands found their way back to his shoulders and started playing with the collar of the new shirt. Once some of the buttons from the blood red shirt and black vest were opened for her entertainment, she started leaving some markings on his skin.

His hands shook as he tried to do a quick job of taking the obi off and the layers of the woman's kimono. Once that was done, he turned her and shoved her to the door, grinding on her languidly. He took in her scent and ran his tongue from her back to her neck where he gently sucked.

"Don't leave anything on me, I do have to go on stage tonight, Kanda. Do you want to see my front? I still have your bites," she murmured.

He kept grinding on her, sure that he could control his release. Raking his teeth along Moriko's neck, his hands journeyed the curves of her body, his fingers tracing some of the bruises he had left on her hips the previous night. Once all her articles of clothing were gone, Kanda turned her again, this time facing him so that he could see his handiwork before having to dress her.

Her skin was adorned with various marks. If they weren't small bite marks, they were bruises. If they weren't either, they were hickies or scratches. Their night had been quite intense, something that if they had time at the moment, could easily happen once more. However, knowing that people were downstairs waiting for them, Kanda saw this as a great way to start taming the woman.

"As much as this might be entertaining for you, we have a job. So get dressed already. Didn't know you could be so needy," Kanda said as his hands brushed dangerously close to her womanhood.

"You are such a tease, you know that?"

Nude, she made her way to the bed and made sure to give the young general a nice show as she reached over the bed to take her clothing. Holding up the dress for him to take, she started guiding him so he could dress her. The ordeal went on for some time, as she also had to put on make-up and change her hair style.

"Remember to go along with everything I say, no matter how absurd it may sound to you. Understood?"

Getting on the second carriage, she started to tell Kanda some of the things that he could expect to do as her attendant. Besides being by her side at all times, during her performance he was to work with her father and brother to try to collect any information that he could from some of the patrons and guests.

General Cross would tell him which people to go after. Sometimes he would have to get on stage with her, which he refused to loudly; why should he have to do her work as well? She explained that sometimes she needed to serenade somebody, and seeing how attractive he was, many people would gain interest in him and make interrogating and approaching people easier.

"Just follow Father's example or pair up with Allen. Tonight I will look for you in the crowd and serenade you, but tomorrow you will have quite an enjoyable job before the show."

The carriages soon slowed down and arrived at the Grand Gold, the hotel which they would be staying at and do their shows. Several men came rushing once they saw General Cross stepping from the first carriage, quickly informing him that their suites were prepared and that the manager was waiting for them inside.

Leading them, the men carried their suitcases and showed them the way as the manager, Emilio Suerte, came and chatted up General Cross.

"Sister, this is how you and Master lived before?"

"Yes, Emilio is a greedy bastard, I suppose that's why Father likes doing business with him; he is easily blinded. A shame that his father decided to leave him in charge. Allen, be sure to get in him a couple of drinks before getting him to spill anything. And also-"

Moriko was cut off as the manager made his way to her side and pressed himself to her. The children were very tired and did not see how their mother was being looked at. Takashi was on her hip as Shizuka had decided to try to deepen his relationship with his father and Hideaki and Ai were walking beside Allen who was carrying a sleeping Daisuke.

"It's wonderful to have you at Grand Gold. I have missed you so, Esmeralda. I hope that you could sing for me some other time in private," he said as he pressed even closer to her.

"I'm must inform you that I will not be doing individual private shows anymore, seeing as I must have my children with me. You do understand, don't you?"

Looking at the children, it was a surprise to finally realize that they were his Esmeralda's. The manager had no recollection of his Esmeralda having children when she first started singing at his hotel. However, before he could protest or come up with some type of solution, the woman spoke first.

"Also, I'm sure my husband, Ryo, would be against the idea of any shows without his presence," she quickly said as she stepped towards Kanda.

The manager met the glaring eyes of the man beside Esmeralda and then dropped his gaze towards the child in his arms. So this must be the father of the children, huh? He had thought that the cold man was part of Esmeralda's party, but to think that he had taken her was such a shame. She deserved somebody to wait on her on hands and knees.

"I would appreciate if you didn't act too familiar with her. Many would see it as you trying to take away my wife, don't you think?" the man said after some piercing seconds of standing in front of their suite. "So don't get close to her."

With that, Ryo wrapped his arm across Esmeralda's back and grabbed her hip, pulling her against himself and planting a kiss behind her ear. Warning received and suites shown, Emilio and his workers left them to prepare for the show, but not without sending another look towards his jewel.

"Not bad, at least you will be able to do a good job as a bodyguard," Cross's voice came from behind them.

From the door across the hall stood Cross and his apprentice, having seen the whole scene as they were about to send the children back to their mother's suite. Although Cross looked satisfied with the way that the other general had handled the situation and followed his daughter's lead, Allen was trying hard not to laugh at the short, but spectacular, scene that Kanda had put up.

"Oh, if only the others at Head Quarters could have seen you defend your "wife" like a nice, jealous husband. Too bad there was nothing that could have recorded that. Oh wait! I'm sure Timcanpy got that, didn't you, Tim?"

And with an evil smile, Allen laid Daisuke on the bed and merrily left to the suite he would be sharing with his Master, grateful that Kanda would not be able to hurt him anytime soon. He would be protected against him for a while, there was no way that Kanda would get him alone.

"I'll wait for you in the ballroom. I'm going to 'visit' some of my 'friends' before the show starts," said the General as he made his way to the elevators and sent a wave behind him.

"And I'll get myself acquaintanced with Master's 'friends.'"

And with that Allen was out as well, leaving Kanda and Moriko to put the children to sleep.

"So, Esmeralda, Ryo?" was the first thing that was said in the silence.

"I'm known as Esmeralda. And I need to get away from that man, so yes, for the time being you will act as my husband. Emilio must be kept under watch, he knows something," Moriko explained.

"Then wouldn't it be far easier to know if you were to play his game?"

Kanda laid Shizuka next to Takashi as Moriko put Daisuke and Yume in the cribs in the room. Hideaki and Ai were putting seals on the windows around the suite, their Empa had taught them how use them.

As Moriko did some last minute touch-ups, she tried to tell the young general a little of the history between Esmeralda and Emilio.

"He might be the richest man in the town so he decided he would keep whatever he wanted. Unfortunately he thought he could keep the jewel of the Grand Gold, Esmeralda. By winter, Father and I were long gone. There were many attempts of keeping me, I would rather not give him any openings."

"Should have gotten an actual husband," he muttered. "What are you brats doing?"

After finally paying attention to Hideaki and Ai and to their seals as well, he felt the necessity of knowing what they were doing to the room he would also be staying at. Why couldn't he get his own room? Why couldn't he share rooms with Moyashi as always?

"Otou-san, Empa taught us how to put up protection seals for akumas. This way we won't be attacked during the night and the akuma will not be able to sense us and our Innocence," Hideaki told him.

"They also work on people. People won't be able to come in if they don't have our permission, even if they have the key," Ai added.

"I assume I have permission to come and go as I please?"

"Of course, Otou-san!" Ai answered as she went to cuddle in the bed with her brothers.

Wishing them a goodnight, Moriko closed the door as Hideaki put the last seal on the double doors. The seals were strong, seeing how they borrowed power from their sleeping masters. These would do until she and Kanda got back to the suite.

The ballroom was roaring with life once they made their way to the entrance. She would be making a loud entrance, coming from the main doors and getting everyone's attention from the beginning. This was the comeback of the jewel, she was going to make it unforgettable.

As soon as the doors flew open, the orchestra started and Kanda made way for Esmeralda to own the ballroom, watching from the side with Allen. General Cross had secured his seat up in front of the stage in the company of some very distinguished ladies.

Seeing Moriko obtain every pair of eyes to her person, Kanda could see how she was the jewel of the Grand Gold, Esmeralda. She swept in and stole the breath away from all, men and women alike. Her ruby dress made her skin glow under the chandelier and candlelight as she slowly started to sing with the harmony of the violin.

Once she made her way to the stage, the orchestra quieted down and General Cross took over, announcing the return of the woman who had taken over Europe. He swayed her around the stage for a couple of seconds as the crowd erupted in cheers and applauds.

"How is it that General Cross was never caught when they were this well-known?" Kanda asked Allen.

"You mean Master Marian, that's what he's called. It's amazing how different but similar he is to his usual self. It's kinds creepy, actually," he shivered at the discovery.

"You realize that makes no sense, right?"

And the show went on.

Kanda and Allen had been going to tables to entertain as directed by General Cross, mostly some of the people he knew that would be easy to get information from. So far, they had heard of some rumors going around the outer villages.

The young woman being sweet-talked by Allen had heard a rumor of assassins at the border of the villages that could be hired. Apparently they were the ones behind the attacks of the vanishing towns. Their employer was a big shot that was part of royalty or something of the sort and had wanted to rebuild the towns as he pleased.

The rumor seemed to be a close enough guess for both Allen and Kanda to know that the royal was the Earl and that the assassins were either the Noah or akumas. They made a mental note of passing the information to the others in the inn.

However, there was also the rumor that Emilio was part of those who supported the Royal in rebuilding the country and then take over the continent. As a prominent figure in the town of Salinas and being responsible for uniting it with the surrounding villages to make a grand city, he had both the ability and means to hire the assassins.

As for the strange destruction and rebuilding of the towns, it seemed that the survivors had been the ones to rebuild them with the help of a great benefactor, the Royal. As the towns grew, the more prosperity it seemed to have. Many people moved and the towns became either a big tourist spot or great for new businesses. It wasn't that the growth was a bad thing, but a little strange and scary that they became so big in a matter of year, especially following great destruction.

"Are you being serious? That sounds so scary! I can't believe all this happened while Esmeralda was taking a break. Not much like the old days, according to her. But I suppose now she will have more people to sing for," Allen faked surprise.

"How are you enjoying Esmeralda's comeback? Is this as good as her previous shows?" asked Kanda as a way to mix the conversation.

"Have you not been working for her for a while now? Her show is beautiful. She seems different, as if she is glowing," responded the young woman. "I wonder who will be the lucky one to be serenaded! How lucky if it was me," she sighed.

As if on cue, the orchestra stopped and left the cello to play by itself as Esmeralda glided through the ballroom, looking for her lover of the night. As she passed by various tables, she feigned interest in some of the people and then continued on her way.

Once she made her way to the table where Allen and Kanda were, she glanced softly at the young woman and leaned down to whisper in her ear before taking the general's hand and bringing it to her lips.

Annoyed that he had to be part of such a stupid part of the show, he started to think of a way to get her back, but only knew of Emilio and he had already threatened him before. He would later get a chance to get her, better to make it as big as possible.

Moriko had dragged him to the center of the ballroom where there had been some space cleared for, apparently, this moment of the show. She guided one of his hands to her lower back and held the other as she readied herself to sing.

"I don't dance," he hissed at her.

"Follow my lead and enjoy," was her short answer before she started singing.

~On the other side of the river

The dark eyes of my love I see

On the other side of the river

Is a place for me~

She swayed and glided with him close to her. Kanda had never been needed to know of such things, but at least his first time was with an experienced woman. And as soon as that thought passed his mind, he smirked. In more than dancing, he added as an afterthought.

Pulling her flush against him, he continued to listen to her song.

~Day after day I waited for him

To come for me

Day after day I waited for him

But he never came~

Her voice sounded sorrowful and teary. Looking at her, he could see her eyes glistening, ready to cry. However, knowing that this was also part of the show, he thought that all the people associated with General Cross must be skillful liars and performers.

~Through the rain I made my way

To hold my love

Through the rain I made my way

And found my escape~

Kanda wondered where this song came from. Had she written such a confusing song? At first in love and then disappointed. This was supposed to be a serenade? What a failure of a love song.

~With the moon and my tears

I found him again

With the moon and my tears

He took my pain away~

Good, now the song would be good.

~He smiled and kissed me

Together at last

On the other side of the river

The dark eyes of my love I see~

The song had a happy ending, Kanda supposed that's what really counted in the end for it to be a love song. But a kiss in the middle of the ballroom was not something that he had been told would happen.

"Now slowly dip me, keep your face close to mine," she ordered.

Doing as he was ordered, he found himself in a rather intimate and romantic position with the deranged daughter of the perverted general. She pulled his face closer and placed her lips on his.

The cello had stopped playing once Moriko had sung her last note and the audience had been captivated since the beginning that nobody had been making any sound. The soft and gentle kiss lasted for a couple of seconds.

Kanda was not sure of this, yes, he had kissed this woman before, but never like this. Those had always been rough and passionate, full of lust and without much thought. They had just happened and were an effect of the reaction of their bodies being together.

This time was different. As she pressed her lips more firmly, he could swear she swallow a sob. He opened his eyes to see a couple of tears falling from her eyes. Pulling her up, he decided to add something of his own to the show and held her for some moments; giving her time to dry her tears and compose herself for her next songs.

After that song, his popularity increased and his presence was requested by more ladies. Esmeralda continued with singing to individual tables and such, but never went near any of the tables he was at. He figured he had caught her at a weak point.

The night ended with a few rumors to be checked out, various appointments for private parties, and a few requests for Master Marian and Sir Ryo as company for the night. For the last request, Edward, as Allen had decided to call himself, would sweep in and apologize for the misunderstanding of granting such request. To which Master Marian would courteously respond that he would gladly accept only if they were outside of the job, of course.

Kanda and Moriko were the last to leave the ballroom, knowing that some people would try to follow them to find her suite. Allen had retired to his own suite, relaxing and enjoying the room with the absence of his Master, who would be there by the next morning.

The double doors gave off a light green spark when they were opened, the seals recognizing the people coming in. The children were deep in their sleep and did not stir as the seals were changed to be powered by their mother. As the clock in the first room showed that it was close to three in the morning, Kanda quickly made his way to the second bedroom, but was caught before he could reach it.

"Sir Ryo, help me take this dress off. It is one of your duties," Moriko said in that haughty tone she used as Esmeralda.

"What if I rip it? That would have it off you faster," he threw back.

"Well, if that's how it's going to be…." she trailed off and went into his bedroom.

"Get out of my room or I'll cut you."

"Don't be like that. You can use Mugen on my dress if that excites you."

Letting an annoyed sigh out, he got to work fast, wanting the woman to get out of his room as soon as possible. As usual, his body reacted to the woman being so close to him. Whether it was sexual or annoyance and anger, he had being reacting to her since the first time that he saw her the day before. And he thought that the only that could ever irritate him this much was the Moyashi.

Undoing the laces on her back, he loosened them enough for her to be able to take off the rest of the dress herself. Laying down the top layers on a chair for her to pick up in the morning, he pushed his sleeves up to prepare himself for the battle that awaited in the task of putting down her hair and undo the mess.

After all was done and over with, Moriko relieved herself of the other layers of her dress and then slipped under the covers of the young general's bed.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Well, I can't disturb my children. And don't you want to finish what you started at the inn?" she smirked as she covered her semi-naked body with the sheets.

Growling, Kanda pounced on her. He pinned her down and glared at her. How dare she? Did she have a death wish to tempt him like that? Each passing second seemed so slow, she stared up at him waiting for him to do something, anything.

"Why are you doing this to me? Is it fun or do you want to die?"

"Nothing of the sort. I honestly can't help myself around you. I wonder why…" she muttered.

"Don't complain about this in the morning," were the last words that were shared before Kanda attacked the woman beneath him.

Changing one of the seals on the door, Moriko sound-proofed the room as she anxiously waited for Kanda to repeat the pleasure she had experienced with him the night before.


	8. Chapter 8

He woke up before she did. Stretching, he turned to see her in his bed. This was different. She actually stayed this time, there was no doubt that it was real. The covers had slid down her back, revealing the moon-shaped birthmark that she had. It looked more like a bruise than a birthmark.

Running his fingers lightly up her back, he smirked as a breathy moan escaped her and her back arched into the mattress. He had done a pretty good job. Her skin was marred with many marks, both in places that could be seen and others that only he will ever know existed.

Let's see her try to put him in the spotlight again.

Getting ready to take a shower, he started thinking of what he needed to do. Although Moriko was the lead in this mission, he had more experience and knew that it was better to destroy as many akuma as possible in the most silent way. The furthest village would have hardly any help if he were to attack it first. But Lenalee and Bookman were already there.

Stepping into the adjoining bathroom, Kanda felt Moriko's arms around him before he could even sense her. She trailed her hands down his chest and down to his hips, caressing his thighs before raking her nails up and digging into his hipbones.

He hissed and grabbed her by the hair, biting down on her collarbones to show his dominance. It seemed that they were both suited to bites, whether it was to bite or be bitten.

Her nail marks soon were healed as she watched the man's body and led him under the warm water. She wrapped her arms around his neck and bit his bottom lip, reveling in the taste of his blood.

Pushing her away, he saw that some of her smaller and less serious marks disappeared after taking his blood. How had she known of it? He launched himself at her and rewarded her trick with more markings on the skin more sensitive.

"Aren't you a smart one? You thought that you would come out of this unharmed? You weren't supposed to complain, remember?"

She chuckled as she reached around him for the shampoo. Moving him aside so that she could dampen her hair, she stood under the water and sighed as the warmth ran down her body.

He reached for the soap instead and continued with his interrupted shower. Not even in the shower was he able to get rid of the woman. He already had enough of her. When would her brats wake up so that they could entertain her?

Again he felt her hands travel down his body, spreading the soap as she 'helped' him clean up. Were the two nights not enough for her? It was no wonder she had birthed kid after kid.

"You have your own damned bathroom. No need for you to be here. Is showering with you a duty as well?"

"It's too early to argue about stupid, petty things. Besides, my children are still asleep, I can't wake them up while I shower."

And with that the argument was closed.

The clock now showed that it was nine in the morning. The children were soon to awaken and a reservation had been made for the family to have a table ready for their breakfast.

"Otou-san, good morning. Was last night's work difficult?" Hideaki asked as soon as he saw his father.

The man only grunted and left the suite in pursuit of the stupid Moyashi that had laughed at his misery only a few hours earlier. Knowing that he was an early bird, he walked in to the other suite, paying no mind that 'Master Marian' had company leaving his bedroom.

Kicking the door to the shorty's bedroom, he summoned Mugen and held it against his throat. The other male only stared wide-eyed at the intruder and supposed that he had made a terrible mistake of staying to wait on his master.

"Morning, BaKanda. How did you like last night?" he grinned.

"Much better than you could imagine," he smirked.

With one last glare, Kanda left Allen confused in his room. If only he knew what he and 'his sister' had been doing. He could always hold that off for a special occasion when the sprout really dug in his nerves. Kanda could almost see the terrorized expression replacing Allen's forever fake smile.

"Otou-san," he heard one of the boys, Shizuka, call out to him. "We are going to eat, are you coming with us?"

As his answer, he waited by the suite's double doors as Hideaki came out holding Takashi's hand. Seeing Moriko with the babies, he went in and carried Yume, knowing well that the order would come sooner or later. And also, since they were going down to eat, there was a big possibility of seeing Emilio and he would have to play the husband role.

Arriving at the bottom floor, the family exited the elevator and made their way to the reserved table where Allen was already scarfing down his third plate of food.

What a beautiful picture they made. The beautiful mother holding onto her daughter's hand as she carried the little redhead on her hip. The youngest child was in her handsome father's embrace who was holding their second son's hand. And in front of them, their eldest child led the way to their table with his little brother happily skipping next to him.

If Emilio wasn't waiting for Esmeralda, Allen could've died laughing on the hotel floor, instead he would have to die from holding in his laughter. Kanda looked so nice and proper holding onto the children, he couldn't wait until Lavi made his way back to the town so they could laugh together.

"My Jewel, I hope you were pleased with the suite. I had it furnished myself," came the greeting from Emilio as he reached to pull a chair for her.

Before he even touched the back of the chair, Kanda had already walked Moriko to the opposite side of the table and had pulled a chair for her as well as Ai to sit by her side. On Moriko's other side, he sat himself as he helped Shizuka pull his chair. The other two boys had gone to their Uncle Allen to wait for their grandfather to join them.

"The rooms were great, thank you. The children slept comfortably and Ryo and I enjoyed our bed very much," she thanked him subtly.

"I see."

Allen held back his howl of laughter as the hotel's manager seemed short of words. Kanda, though, allowed a smirk to leave his lips, knowing well that the man would understand the meaning of the woman's words.

"It seems you want to make your family bigger," he chuckled nervously.

"Perhaps our hard work will give us two more daughters so that the children will be even."

Kanda tried to make the man either uncomfortable or mad, they would both be entertaining to see. As the color rose to the man's face, the more Kanda seemed to go above and beyond in his role of husband, slipping his hand into Moriko's and intertwining their fingers, only to bring it to his lips and lay a soft kiss on her knuckles.

"Seeing as how great your family seems, I'm sure that your hard work will be paid off," he gave back, looking around for his chance to leave.

"So there will be another child," announced the entrance of General Cross.

Glaring at the man holding his daughter's hand, he gave a nod towards the manager and allowed him to flee. He took the seat at the head of the table and reached out for his wine.

With Emilio gone Kanda let go of Moriko's hand and started to eat. He gave the baby to her mother once she started squirming looking for her food. The boy in Moriko's arms was then passed to his Uncle Allen, knowing well that the young man would let him eat from his plate.

The children seemed oblivious to the talk of the adults as they planned out their day. Their father and mother would be coming back to the hotel early because they had something else to do, but beside that Hideaki had the day for himself and his Otou-san.

Going off to help his Otou-san in the mission was all that Hideaki wanted. They would be going together to the outskirts of the town to collect information and if he saw anyone that his Okaa-san had told him about, he would sure to tell his Otou-san. It would only be Otou-san and him for the whole day until they had to return for the afternoon.

"Well, let's go then. How about today, Allen comes with me around town?"

The children had eaten their fill and were more than ready to go out and about with their parents, uncle and grandfather. Hideaki ran to his father's side, keeping his excitement as best as he could, seeing how his father was easily annoyed with 'stupid' things. He did not want to get on his bad side so early, or ever. Hideaki was going to show the general that he was worthy of being not only his apprentice, but also his son.

"Sir Ryo, you will have to be back by the time that the clock strikes four. We have an appointment at six, so we will be entertaining until then," Esmeralda let him know.

Swinging her babies on her hips, she headed to the lobby of the hotel, ready to greet her admirers. Most of them were young men and women, excited to see the person that their friends had spoken of, wanting to have the opportunity of being in the concert hall where she entertained. The woman from the previous night was amongst them, waiving shyly as the woman carrying her children.

"I look forward to seeing your party later today, Miss Elizabeth," the woman gracefully bowed and she continued on her way into the city.

Kanda and Hideaki separated from the group as General Cross decided to go his own way, telling Ai to hurry and follow his father and brother. With that cute and innocent factor on his side, talking with the locals would not be a problem anymore. Allen and Moriko took the four youngest, knowing that Kanda and Cross wouldn't know when to feed the babies in the middle of the searching.

Hideaki and Ai were beautiful children that did not seem native to this place in Spain. Most of the people of Salinas had light brown hair or dark blonde hair and their eyes were mostly brown with a few people having hazel eyes. They attracted even more attention now that the town had discovered that they were the children of their jewel. There would be no trouble getting the townspeople to talk to them, but there would be trouble trying to keep them from harm.

Kanda had already seen various men glancing at the children that were walking a little behind him. The first thought that came to mind was to go over and break their faces before they even got the idea of kidnapping the young exorcists. But knowing that most people frightened at the site of his glare, he turned, glared at the group of men, and grabbed hold of the children's hands.

"Is everything okay, Otou-san?" Hideaki asked as he checked his surroundings.

On Kanda's other side, Ai checked her surroundings as well and her sapphire orbs landed on the group of men that had been looking in their direction. She exchanged looks with her brother and pulled on their father's hand, giving a show of content children out with their father.

"Can we buy something for Okaa-san at one of the stands?" Ai asked cutely.

Giving the stands a quick look, Kanda saw a couple that had attended the show the night before. He nodded at the little girl and walked the children towards the stands as he noticed that Hideaki kept his eyes following the group of men. Looking down to Ai, he noticed that she too was keeping her eyes on a different group of people.

"Should we get something for Uncle Edward and Master Marian as well?" he asked loud enough for the people surrounding would hear them.

The children were showing stealth in their words and actions. They truly were related to General Cross and Moyashi. Was their mother better than them? Perhaps he should try to see her in action with other people. She would probably have them eating out of her hand.

The children made small talk with the vendors and got enough of their attention for their father to sweep in and try to get any rumors that might be helpful to them. This continued for several hours until it was time for them to go back to Grand Gold. On their way back to the hotel, it happened.

The groups that Hideaki and Ai had kept their eyes on had gotten together to ambush Kanda and the children. Kanda, having been irritated that they would even think that their combined numbers would have any effect on him was laughable. As the men and women inched closer to them, Kanda saw the children picking up various sticks on the floor, more than ready to join the fight.

"Step back. Give me room to knock them out cold," he told the kids.

The little ones looked at him and them at each other. Stepping back, they kept their sticks and allowed their father to release some of his stress. After Kanda had been given enough space to beat up the people, he challenged them. The first three men came at him with fists close to their bodies, gauging the distance that they would need to land a hit on the man protecting the children.

Dodging the hits, the general grabbed the last man's arm and twisted back, bringing the fist as high up the man's back as possible. Kicking the other two against the wall, he threw the last one on the floor as he prepared to hit the next the people. Five men came at him. Some of them with planks of wood raised above their heads to swing at the man.

From behind him he heard the high-pitched battle cries of the children as they defended his back and themselves. Seeing the two children fighting against three women had him laughing at the failed attempt kidnapping. Easily knocking out the remaining five men with fast hits around their torsos, Kanda picked up the children from the floor.

The women were sobbing something about their lost chance at big money. Hearing that, Kanda glared down the woman that had said that and stepped on her hand, broken glass cutting into her palm. In between cries and sobs, she relinquished the information that had been given to them. Somebody had been looking for beautiful children to sell to high-paying people in other countries.

After having been warned that if they were stupid enough to try again, they would not be left off with their lives.

"Alright, your mother and General Cross have to know about this as soon as we get back to hotel," Kanda said. "And also," he gave them a serious look. "Good job getting those women. Good to know I won't have to worry so much about you in a fight. Your grandfather will be extremely happy to know that you can hold your own."

The children's eyes gleamed with pride, having had their father acknowledge their strength. They clung to him as he carried them back to the hotel, knowing that even though they were strong, their small bodies would have been tired not only from walking but from their fight with their almost kidnappers.

These kids were quite strong, Kanda thought to himself. They would make excellent fighters one day.


End file.
